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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26615425">knot cool, Zuko</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/calcliffbas/pseuds/calcliffbas'>calcliffbas</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Family Feels, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Team as Family, the air nomads are a freaky-deeky bunch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:35:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,493</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26615425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/calcliffbas/pseuds/calcliffbas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Auntie Zuli says you like to tie Aunt Katara up, Zuzu,” Kiyi said.<br/>Whilst Sokka almost had a heart attack, and Aang got a really weird look on his face, Zuko dropped his noodles all down his Fire Lord robes.<br/>“Oh,” Katara managed. “Is that, uh – when did she tell you that?”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang/Katara (Avatar), Katara &amp; Kiyi (Avatar), Kiyi &amp; Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>154</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>knot cool, Zuko</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Based on a Tumblr edit of a panel in 'The Search' where Katara and Zuko talk about that scene in 'The Waterbending Scroll' and Azula says "You know Zuzu had a crush on you then."</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kiyi was a cute little thing, and Katara had to admit, it <em>was</em> pretty adorable to see the big bad Fire Lord sitting down by the turtleduck pond and pointing out Quack, Paddle and Pond to his little sister. Adorable <em>and</em> funny, especially when Kiyi gave Katara a sneaky grin as she splashed him. Even if she wasn’t a waterbender, she knew what to do.</p><p>So it was a bit strange, then, when Kiyi started frowning at Katara when they ate together at mealtimes.</p><p>“I’m sure it’s fine, Katara,” Aang had reassured her. “Remember when Zuko joined us? Sokka took a little while to warm up to him – and, err, so did you.”</p><p>Katara scowled at the reminder.</p><p>“Not that you didn’t have a good reason!” Aang hastened to add. “And, you know, it’s really cool that you guys have been able to move past that! It’s just that, you know, sometimes people need time to adjust to new people in their lives?”</p><p>Katara can understand that. She’d found a boy frozen in an iceberg, and sometimes she felt like she was <em>still</em> adjusting and trying to find her feet. Still, she felt the need to check with Zuko anyway.</p><p>“Sorry, Katara,” he sighed, and he <em>did</em> seem apologetic. “She’s just having a hard time settling in to life at the palace. Finding out her mom is – well, <em>Mother</em>, that’s… that’s been hard for her.”</p><p>“But I’m not her mom,” Katara pointed out. “I don’t get why she doesn’t seem to like <em>me</em>.”</p><p>Zuko had laughed at that. “Kiyi definitely likes you, Katara. Trust me – she likes you even more than she likes <em>me</em>.”</p><p>“That’s because she’s smart.”</p><p>“No, that’s because you telling her about how funny it is to drop water on my head when I’m just about to walk into an important council meeting.”</p><p>Katara smirked at the memory. “It <em>is</em> pretty funny.”</p><p>“Do it to Aang sometime, then,” Zuko complained. “I’m sure Kiyi would find his reaction <em>hilarious</em>.”</p><p>“Kiyi doesn’t like Aang as much as she likes you,” Katara grinned, nudging his arm with her elbow. “You sure you want me to take the Fire Lord’s biggest fan and turn her into the newest member of the Avatar’s fan club?”</p><p>Zuko shuddered. “That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard on so many levels. She’s <em>six</em>.”</p><p>Katara laughed, and decided to let it go. Kiyi was a sweetheart, and if she was finding it hard to adjust, maybe she’d feel better if Katara spent a bit more time with her. They could go see the turtleducks and think about whether it would be funnier to splash Zuko with wine or mango juice next time.</p><p>But when Kiyi kept staring at Katara at dinner, she <em>did</em> feel like something was the matter. It wasn’t like Kiyi was <em>frowning</em> at her, just… looking at her with a funny look on her face.</p><p>“So what did we all get up to today?” Sokka asked, loading his plate up with meat and noodles. “I was spending time with the Palace Guards – and they’re pretty good, but turns out <em>nobody</em> sees a boomerang coming. Doesn’t the Fire Nation teach this stuff? I swear, it’s like –”</p><p>“Sokka, babe,” Suki cut him off, leaning on his shoulder and stealing a chunk of food off his plate with chopsticks. “I’m pretty sure if you ask a question, you’ve got to let people answer it.”</p><p>“I’ve been hanging out in the city,” Aang smiled widely. “They’ve got this <em>awesome</em> shop where they sell musical instruments! I was thinking, if I got a tsungi horn, I could airbend my breath so it could be even <em>louder</em>.”</p><p>In Katara’s limited experience, tsungi horns were loud enough without amplifying the sound. “That sounds… great, sweetie.”</p><p>He grinned at her, and she inwardly cursed. She’d have to grit her teeth and pretend to love music until he got bored of it. The worse part was that she could ask Uncle to give Aang some lessons, but there wasn’t any point – he’d get bored before he’d had enough lessons to get good.</p><p>The length of Aang’s attention span could be a little inconvenient at times, Katara thought ruefully to herself.</p><p>“So, yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing,” Aang continued. “So I could go and get a tsungi horn – Zuko, you play, right?”</p><p>“Um,” Zuko looked like he’d been asked whether the Jasmine Dragon’s number fifteen special was lychee nut-free. “Erm – I used to? I mean, you know, Uncle always made me play on Music Night –”</p><p>“Awesome!” Aang cheered. “We should play sometime! I’ll go and buy a tsungi horn tomorrow, and we can start practising.”</p><p>“Sorry, Aang,” Zuko sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d really, <em>really </em>love that – it sounds super great. But I don’t have the <em>time</em>. I’m just really tied up with our education reforms and the arts and culture budget right now.”</p><p>Aang wilted in his seat.</p><p>“Auntie Zuli says you like to tie Aunt Katara up, Zuzu,” Kiyi said.</p><p>Whilst Sokka almost had a heart attack, and Aang got a really weird look on his face, Zuko dropped his noodles all down his Fire Lord robes.</p><p>“Oh,” Katara managed. “Is that, uh – when did she tell you that?”</p><p>“Last week,” Kiyi answered, taking a sip of her drink. “It sounded really uncomfortable. I got a rope burn once and it <em>really</em> hurt!”</p><p>Sokka kept looking between Katara and Zuko and opening his mouth. Then, Suki would poke his shoulder, and he’d close it. Then the process would start all over again.</p><p>Katara grinned at the Fire Lord, who was currently dabbing at his noodle robes and mumbling under his breath. With the red sauce on his red robes, and how red his face was, she wondered if any other colour was going to show through any time soon.</p><p>“That was actually a long time ago, Kiyi,” Katara told the six-year-old, because nobody else seemed to know what to do. “And Aunt Zuli wasn’t actually there, so I wouldn’t trust everything she says.”</p><p>“Uh, yeah,” Zuko agreed weakly. “Azula… doesn’t always tell the truth, you know?”</p><p>Kiyi nodded as she considered this. She had a thoughtful frown on her face this time. “So what actually happened?”</p><p>“Yeah, Jerk Lord,” Sokka glared daggers at Zuko. “What <em>actually</em> happened?”</p><p>“Uh… pirates happened?”</p><p>“Zuko teamed up with pirates to try and capture Aang,” Katara explained. “And he captured me instead, and tied me to a tree. But Aang and Sokka helped me escape, so Zuko ended up looking pretty stupid.”</p><p>“Yeah, pretty stupid,” Sokka nodded. “Especially with that dumb ponytail.”</p><p>Kiyi giggled. “Zuzu had a <em>ponytail?</em>”</p><p>Zuko groaned and buried his head in his hands. He got red sauce in his hair.</p><p>“It was a very noble ponytail,” Katara reassured Kiyi. She kind of owed Zuko for making him late to his meeting. “Very impressive, and not at all stupid-looking.”</p><p>“But Zuzu <em>is</em> kind of stupid.”</p><p>“Thanks, Kiyi,” Zuko’s voice was a little muffled. His ears were still bright red.</p><p>“So nothing weird happened with him tying you up?” Sokka double-checked.</p><p>“It was kind of weird,” Katara acknowledged. “But, you know, I don’t think it’s the weirdest thing we’ve gone through.”</p><p>“I mean, for a moment there, I thought I was in this weird alternate reality,” Aang said. “That would have been pretty weird.”</p><p>Sokka shuddered. “I don’t even want to <em>know</em> what weird alternate reality you were thinking about, buddy.”</p><p>“Well, sometimes some of the married Air Nomads would take some rope with them after evening meal, and –”</p><p>“I’m not listening!” Sokka squawked, clapping his hands over his ears. “That’s my sister you’re talking about!”</p><p>“Apparently there’s a Fire Nation play about a nobleman who’s captured by pirates whilst leaving his mansion, but he’s rescued by a brave waterbender pretending to be a poor fisherwoman,” Suki said conversationally, saving the day again. “They fall in love because he loved her compassion for the small fish she caught and threw back.”</p><p>“That’s really dumb,” Zuko said with poorly-concealed disgust. “That’s just stealing that line from <em>Love amongst the Dragons</em>.”</p><p>“What line’s this?” Aang asked. “Is this the one with Noren’s soliloquy about the determination of the herring-salmon, when he sees them swimming against the current?”</p><p>Zuko shook his head. “No, that’s Act Two, Scene Five, thirty-six, when he’s determined to defeat the Dark Water Spirit. ‘Only with your glory hidden in false form could you finally recognise my devotion’ is Act Four, Scene Three, fifty-two.”</p><p>“How is it that you can remember that, but you were ten minutes late for that foreign policy meeting yesterday?” Aang asked. “I’d thought you’d completely forgotten about it!”</p><p>“I hadn’t forgotten, Aang,” Zuko managed through gritted teeth. “I needed to redo my hair.”</p><p>Aang nodded sympathetically. “I can imagine that takes a while.”</p><p>Katara tried hard not to meet Kiyi’s eye and giggle. Zuko's hair looked pretty silly with all that red sauce in it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Quack, Paddle and Pond because we love Rice Krispies!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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